Sarah Maxwell is creating intimate portrayals of lesbian romance.

Cover photo: NIGHT TIME, illustration, by Sarah Maxwell (circa 2018). Via the artist’s website.

This article is part of my 30 Living Queer Artists Worth Celebrating in 2019 series. June is Pride Month, commemorating the international gay rights movement that began June 28th, 1969, with the Stonewall riots of New York. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the event. I’m celebrating all month long!

WARNING: The following article features and/or discusses graphic nudity, pornography, homoerotica, sex, and violence.

Sarah Maxwell

Texas-born artist Sarah Maxwell is an illustrator creating beautiful and sensitive comics, often featuring same-sex female romance draped in soft pastels of pink and blue. Maxwell’s comics are gentle, wistful, and nostalgic, including scenes of broken love, first kisses, and ecstasy.

Maxwell’s flat, detailed style sits between tattoo art and fashion design. Maxwell left Texas to pursue art in Paris, France, where she currently resides. She explains, “I had two reasons of first coming to Paris. I was studying at an art university in Florida, and wanted to transfer to a more fashion-oriented place. My girlfriend at the time was fluent in french, and wanted to study at a university in Paris. She was the one who proposed the idea, and as crazy as it sounded, I applied on a whim to a college here and got in basically with a full scholarship. It was cheaper to study in Paris than anywhere in the US. I didn’t think it was really possible to do something like this at the time, but I’ve been here 4 years now and have loved every minute of it.”

Color & Inspiration

Maxwell’s earliest influences are from television. Maxwell recalls, “Growing up in the ’90s and early ’00s with anime and amazing cartoons. I’d hole myself up in the family laundry room with this tiny TV, just drawing and watching various shows. Sailor Moon was a huge influence on me, especially on my color palette. I’ve always been a fan of pastels and soft aesthetics.”

She adds, in a different interview, “My favorite colors are pink and blue, the same ones I use. I suppose I just really love the contrast they create together as well as the atmosphere they provide for my illustrations. It helps catch the right emotions I’m trying to reproduce.”

Many of the scenes Maxwell creates are drawn from her own life. “Each of my pieces are based on emotions I had during a certain time of my life, and my work is an outlet for me to work through those feelings,” she explains. Maxwell also finds ideas in music. She adds, “I also get a lot of inspiration from listening to music — certain song lyrics will strike a chord with me and help generate ideas.”

Fetishization vs Normalization

It’s widely understood that queer women are underrepresented in media. While TV has made incredible strides, the art world is nearly devoid of any same-sex portrayals of love (especially female).

Maxwell is working to change this dilemma, “A big part of my inspiration is talking openly about being a lesbian, normalising it in a way — because there really isn’t much representation, and I think it’s important. I really appreciate and love the queer artists that are paving the way to make it more accepted, and I’ve always been hoping to be a part of that. I’ve gotten so many people that say they appreciate my art because they can relate to what they see there, and it’s wonderful to hear that I can provide even a small voice to this community.”

The comic world has seen an introduction of queer stories, but, considering how reluctant the mainstream juggernaut Marvel has been to include LGBT+ characters, Maxwell’s art is still vital.

Maxwell explains, “My work most of the time comes from my own personal experiences, interests and emotions. As I said earlier, as a queer woman I wanted to provide representation to my community — so of course I find myself drawing about love between two women. It’s a reflection on my life, a means to get out my inner thoughts and feelings and it just so happens that I am sharing it with the world.  That being said, I am also a female artist. In my work I want to create things that are from a female gaze. I like the idea of creating sensual things that aren’t necessarily sexually explicit. Most of the time in the media, the depiction of a lesbian couple is overly sexualized and exploited. I just wanted to get away from that and show people how I feel a relationship between two women really is.”

In the world of porn, especially, straight men learn that lesbians exist for their pleasure. Just last week, a same-sex female couple was attacked on a London night bus after they refused to kiss for the amusement of a group of male teenagers. Fetishization and a lack of meaningful representation has dangerous consequences. Maxwell concludes, “Love is something everyone can relate to, regardless of gender.”

Success

Maxwell has found tremendous with her art. She notes, “I always knew I wanted to work as an illustrator, but it wasn’t until I started creating more authentic personal work and posting on my social media accounts that I gained an audience. Shortly after growing a significant following, a lot of clients started approaching me, and that’s when it all began!” Maxwell’s client list now includes Adidas, BBC, the New York Times, Tumblr, and Wired.

Future

It’s unclear what Sarah Maxwell will do next, she has mentioned that she would like to pull her illustrations into a physical book and that she would like to start her own tattoo shop. Prints of Maxwell’s art are available on her website and I highly recommend you follow her on Instagram. The only thing that’s certain, is that Maxwell will continue to create meaningful and beautiful portrayals of queer women and romance.